Jul 18 10:22:59 105 PA

From Chronicles

The current game time is: Sat Jul 18 10:22:59 105 PA.

On a weekend midmorning, most garages are closed, or closing their doors. This one is open and its owner is perched on a piece of decrepit machinery, straddling it. Her hair is tied back in a ponytail, wearing her worn coveralls and a welding mask. In her hands, and the source of her attention, is the blow torch running tongues of flame across the metal. If someone looked closely, they could see a conversation, or half of it, as she talks softly to the piece of metal, even smiling slightly at heard comments from it.

Kid eases into the garage slowly, the exchange with Zaphod far more quiet this time. So there isn't much notice to her arrival, save for any door chimes Cali might have set up. She is clad in her comfy Glitterpunk look and before she moves in, she takes a careful look around the interior of the garage. Only then does she move in, spotting and making a beeline towards Cali. "Hey Cali." Her voice mildly subdued and quiet.

It takes a few moments for Caliopa to draw her attention away from the welding, but after a long moment, her gaze flickers up and she turns off the flame. She lifts a hand, pushing the visor up onto the top of her head, the sunny smile coming to her lips easily at the sight of Kid. "Hey Kid. How're things goin'? What bit you yesterday?"

Kid frowns slightly, hesitating for a moment before she states, "Got some chick talking into my head. Probably another hitman if my guess is right. Someone with freaky mind powers. I suppose its a good thing I got the guy watching me, but I can't do anything to find stuff out with him all over me. I hate just.. waiting." Her expression sours, toe of her boot scuffing at the floor in mild, silent annoyance. "That's what happened before.. and I wasn't sure what was up, so I decided to clear out.. but whoever it is got at me at the Library garden too. Dunno who it is though."

Caliopa's smile fades, and then an edge of anxiety sneaks into the honest brown gaze. "Something in your mind?" She reaches up, taking off the mask entirely, and putting both the mask and the tool to the floor, a sign of her worry that they are left there as she rises and moves across the room. "Is it makin' you do anythin'? What is it sayin'?" Her movements are edgy, her back utterly straight.

Kid creases her brow. "No.. just taunting me. Talking in stupid metaphors and stuff. Trying to fuck with my head is all." Her sour look returns. "Its that.. telepathic shit, probably." She doesn't seem to make a connection with Cali's worries, turning to wander off in a random direction as she speaks. "Should probably tell the elf, but what's he going to do? This chick.. she ain't going to strike until she wants to.. and dunno where she is.. if she's watching me or others, don't know anything about her so can't predict when she might attack. If we knew.. we could set a trap.. worked last time, even if it was a bit messy."

"Gotta tell Atti. He'll know what to do." Caliopa nods firmly, hesitating before returning to her seat, her fingers fiddling with the mask, turning it over in her hands. "Might mean somethin' of sorts to him, 'n' he might be able to do some thin' about it." She slowly puts the mask on her head, taking the welding gun in her hands and giving Kid a thoughtful look. "Ain't there a time to draw her in, makin' her think you ain't with folks or something... "

Kid snorts faintly as she wanders about the area around Cali slowly, hands remaining glued to the interior of her pockets as she goes. "Not with Zaphod around all the time. And like hell do I want to play this thing out unless I know that there's a solid plan behind it. I don't like being bait." She casually pokes at something on one shelf, though her interest wanders a moment later and she glances along the shelf steadily as she takes in the various contents. "Once I have some money, I'm going to fix all this.. shits getting too hot.. I have to make plans."

Caliopa doesn't turn the flame back on, her face thoughtful beneath the mask. "Thought you didn't want him around at all, yesterday?" She comments softly, mildly enough. The poking earns Kid a small frown and the flash of discomfort in Caliopa's eyes is partially hidden by the mask. "Whatcha gonna fix?" She asks, running her fingers across the work thoughtfully.

Kid glances back towards Cali with a tight little frown at her note of yesterday's little scene. "Things change, Cali-girl.. but I don't want to deal with this again. I've been too relaxed.. too casual. I'm gunna have to start thinking about making my life more secure." She turns around, arms lifting, hands slipping from her pockets as she crosses them over her chest. "Fuck.. I'm even considering moving out of Cheapo.. I need secure digs and that place ain't cutting it."

Caliopa sits back on her haunches, tilting her head to look up at Kid, her face thoughtful. "Well, there is our place, or we got a room in this buildin'." She observes, softly, her face covered with small smudges of grime from the work. "Thinkin' you need to live in a place of lockdown? It ain't so comfy to do so, Kid. Makes a person feel trapped, locked in a box."

"No no.. nothing like that," Kid replies. "I know where I want to set up.. the only thing is making sure I can. A place with armed guards and lots of eyes. And someone heading the whole thing that's probably got a better handle on things than most people." Her two toned eyes narrowed subtly as she considers the possibilities. "I might have to look into that soon. Get moved over there once all this crap is done and over with."

She studies Kid's face thoughtfully before twisting the knob on the welder, starting the flame up again and lowering the mask over her face. "Some place special?" She calls over the noise, her head bent as she applies heat to metal. "Sounds like a prison to me, ain't something..." She shrugs, cutting off the rest of the wortds.

Kid smirks a little as she moves closer to Cali, though not too close, not wanting to have the flame of the welder mess with her eyes. "Vigilante turf, Cali-girl. I worked with em before.. just a little. THe guy running the place.. he seems steady. And the place is practically an armed camp. No better place to be when you've got people gunning for you. Not like a prison.. just a place where, if you're on their side, you've got a lot of guns covering your back. I like that."

The flame does its work quickly and efficiently, and Caliopa's attention is more on the work than on her friend for the moments it takes. "Guess so. I guess it ain't likely easy to visit with." She gives the work a critical stare, narrowing brown eyes slightly behind the mask before she sits back once more. One hand lifts the mask from her face, and she lifts her face to look up at Kid, the sunny smile showing up once more, lighting up her beautiful face. "Guess it ain't like I leave this place neither." Humour traces those words, underlying the truth of them.

Kid smirks faintly. "The whole point is to make it hard to visit.. but I can vouch for you if I ever get in with em. Not like I needed an invitation to enter their area and do a little hobnobbing." Kid is standing a bit behind Cali as she works, arms lifted to cross over her chest as she speaks. "Key point is keeping anyone with a mind to do stuff to me away. The guards there.. they've got training and good gear. Makes me think I could feel comfortable in a place like that. LIke I'm really secure for once."

"Guess so." Caliopa gives Kid that warm smile again, stretching her back and lifting off the mask entirely. She inspects the work, a small frown on her forehead as she peers closely at the weld and then nods, rising from her seat. "Think that'd stop folks comin' 'n' goin' inside your head?" She questions as she moves to put her mask on it's peg, to clean the tools she just used, methodically.

Bair walking around the city looking for work comes acrossed word of a new garage in town and makes his way over. He is wearing slightly nicer clothes the normal with a dress shirt instead of a white shirt. His eyes keep jumping around. As he heads inside the building. His voice a bit quiet as he speaks, "Hello?" His one of his hands rest on his bag well the other hand is in his coat pocket. Not sure if anyone heard him he coughs to himself to clear his thoat and repeats his hello in a loader voice.

"Hell if I know, but I hear there are implants that can block out stuff like that.. if I had the sort of money for em, I'd sure as hell look into it," Kid states, tapping a finger idly against her upper arm as she considers. "There's alot of cyber I'd love to get my hands on, but being poor as hell don't really make getting it easy." She pauses and glances towards the sound of Bair's voice.

Caliopa opens her mouth to reply to Kid, disapproval written in her face before Bair's voice takes her mind down another tack. "You all come on in. Door is open." She replies, turning from the workstation with a welcoming, warm smile that is echoed in her brown eyes. "Come on in, you're welcome. Can I do something for you?" She steps forward to welcome him with the sunny smile that lights up her face.

Glancing around he spots the two talking and when invited over he starts to walk to them. A smile crosses his face as he reaches a hand out, "Hello, My name is Bair, Bair Wesley, I heard that yall just opened up and I was wondering if you might be hiring." He glances over and sees Kid and his eyes become a bit larger as he moves his eyes back to Cali.

Kid glances at Cali and smirks a little at the note of disapproval before she gets distracted by a potential customer. "Cali-girl, don't hand me some anti-cyber crap. I already got it and hell if it ain't useful. Having some psi blockers in my head would give me a world of piece of mind." When she looks back towards Bair, the girl smirks widely, recognition dawning at once. "Didn't bruise, did it?" Huh?

Caliopa shakes her head at her friend, giving her a sunny smile, "Did I say a thing? I ain't puttin' a piece of machine in me, that's all I'm thinkin', with the stuff I can get the machines to do." She returns her attention to Bair, wiping some of the oil on her hand off onto her coveralls before taking his hand with that sunny smile. "Took over from the old guy last week. I ain't sure if I'm needin' folks yet... What do you do?"

Bair Wesley adverts his eyes down as he blushes at Kid's comment. His reply still strong, "I am really good with electronics I can normally find a way to get it working even with out all the parts needed and I know a lot of things now have circuits in them." He raises his eyes back to Cali as his face slowly relaxes the red in them.

Kid grins impishly at the response she gets off Bair. Though she leaves off him to give Cali a roll of her shoulders. "You don't have to say, I know your looks," she states. "You might think about a little cyber.. some optics might help your work." Though after that aside, she fixes her eyes on B air again, considering his words with a bit more than casual attention.

"I ain't puttin' machinery in me." The blunt reply is softened by the look of laughing irritation. "Electronics? What do you like workin' on? I might have a piece of work now and again, but I can't make no promises..." She gives him a smile, sympathetic at being on the receiving end of Kid's barbs. "She's got a good heart under the prickles, but it ain't easy to see it some days." She observes softly.

Bair Wesley smiles as he looks up at Cali, "She seems nice. Though we have had....food and rock isueses befor." He nods as he speaks again, "Well I well trained to work on Electronic Generators and generation. I am well able to Do the basic electronics work and trouble shoot. I have always had a way to just understand electronics in a way."

Kid just shrugs at Cali's flat out refusal. The snorts as the woman plays out the Kid = nice line. "Cali girl, stop trying to fuck around with my rep. I'm not nice. I'm real. Big difference." She then eyes Bair speculatively. "All about the electronics, huh?" THe line of discussion brings something back for her. Something clearly rising in mind, though just what it is remains unspoken.

"Electronics... I ain't got much of it in at the moment, Bair but you leave me some details and if I get some work, I'll call you. If not, the AIM got a place, since I jus' left there." She gives him a speculative look and nods. "Reckon it'll pick up a piece, once folks realise we're reopened." Kid's comment causes Caliopa's dimples to deepen but doesn't shake the smile from her lips. "But if you weren't a nice folk, you'd jus' take the compliment." She tosses the words at the other woman.

Bair Wesley quickly tries to get off the topic of Electronics now as he steaks, "I can also help around the shop. I can do the grunt work and clean. Maybe apprentice with you and learn more." He keeps his eyes from looking at Kid as long as she seems to be on a tracking point of figuring him out.

Of course, evasion only perks Kid's interest more and leads her to consider more intently. "You.." She frowns as she steps towards Bair. "You were the one fucking with my stuff at Happy Burger, weren't you?" Putting little bits and pieces together. "Making things turn on when they was off.. you had me thinking my handheld was on the fritz you ass." Her slow approach ending with the girl slapping at the man's shoulder in annoyance. "Don't do that again, damn it. You damage the data I have stored on that thing and you'll have some hell coming down on your ass, I'll tell you that much." Voice lifted just a bit to mingle with her annoyed state.

A spark of interest enters Caliopa's face and she narrows the brown eyes at him. "You can do that?" She tilts her head thoughtfully, "How? What'd you do? I ain't even tried to mess with her stuff, kinda like my skin on me." She ignores Kid's irateness, her focus entirely on the electronics. "I mean, I ain't ever had an apprentice, I ain't that good with sharin' my space." The thought is there, in her face though.

Bair Wesley quickly jumps back after she tags him on the arm, "Hey Now I would not have had to do that if you would have left my dinner alone. Its not easy for a guy to hunt for food when animal see lightning. And as bad of a shot I am." He tilts his head down a bit as he looks back at Caliopa, "Its what I do. I....have a way with electicity and eletronics. Been this way sense I was young. And I promise to do anything you say if you hire me. I will work hard and learn." Just for the hell of it and to demenstrate a point He tries to turn on any device on Kid to show Cali.

Kid scowls at Bair as he likens her data to be as important as his chicken strip. "You were screwing with my thousands of credit gear over fucking 2 creds worth of chicken?" Incredulous to say the least. A flash fire builds, then she just suddenly kicks out at Bair's shin with one of her jackbooted feet. "Don't do it again!" Flat out command in her raised voice, eyes narrowed to slender slits. All other talk immaterial to her at this moment.

Caliopa is about to reply, her face thoughtful, when Kid's explosion draws her attention and the sunny smile vanishes, a frown taking its place. "Kid. This is my place. Ain't for yellin' and makin' scenes." Blunt words, spoken abruptly. "'n' figure you can come by a few times, see how we get on, Bair. I ain't takin' on someone, not least til I know them a bit better."

Bair Wesley bows slightly as Caliopa finishes speaking, "Yes Ma'am. Just let me know when to be here," A smile crosses his face as he comes up for the bow. He inches away a bit from Kid not she if she knows something turned on. His eyes try hard not to betray a laugh as he keeps quiet. "Is there anything you would like me to do today."

Kid turns her head slightly. "You heard him, Cali.. I don't take kindly to people fucking with my stuff," she states, tone more manageable, but no less irate. She snaps a glare back at Bair. "You just watch your ass, man.." Vague, not all that dire threat in her tone before she snaps around and walks off a bit with a stiff gait. The three of them stand within Cali's garage, Kid moving away from a confrontation with Bair, whilst Cali talks to him in a more reasonable manner.

"She ain't wrong. Messin' with folks stuff ain't right." Caliopa is clear on that, giving the man a measured, considering look. "You call by durin' the week, when things ain't so quiet. I'm mostly done for today." She glances around the neat room and nods, pleased with the tools all being in their places. "Ain't worth upsettin' Kid by fiddling, mind."

Bair Wesley nods as he listens to her, "Then I shall come back later in the week. And I do not mean to make her mad. She seems one who likes to play means jokes. I only wished to return the favor to her." A grin crosses his face. "Besides I would not damage it, only use it to confuse her as much as I can."

Kid snorts faintly, easily able to hear the talk, turning back around to eye Bair. "Just don't screw with my stuff." She looks to Cali and states, "I've gotta get outta here, Cali girl. I'm not in a good mood. Tell the elf I'm looking for him.. gotta talk about stuff." She lifts a hand in a casual wave before she starts to lightly stomp her way out.

Caliopa nods at Kid's words, giving her a warm smile before turning to Bair. "She ain't tolerant at all of folks touchin' her stuff. Ain't likely worth it neither." The warning is given softly, with a smile. "I ain't got a clue if the garage got work enough for both of us, but Atti'll know, and I'll get 'n' ask him later. You call back durin' the week, you hear?"

Bair Wesley smiles and nods, "Yes Ma'am, I will." He fixes his bag on his shoulder as he prepares to leave. "Thank you again Ma'am. If you have no work for me today I shall head out. I have some hunting I still have to do befor the day is over." His eyes glance around to see if Kid is truely gone before starting to head out.

"Cali. I ain't a ma'am." The correction is made in a friendly voice, her smile broadening. "Ain't noone calls me anything other than Cali." She lifts a hand, before turning back to her tidying. Everything in it's place. A place for everything.

Bair Wesley waves to Cali as he heads out, "Yes, Miss Cali." A smile crosses his lips as he leaves.Tags:bair, caliopa, kid